Holy Week Blueberry Spinach Smoothie

Welcome to Holy Week. For those not versed in the Christian calendar, Holy Week is the week beginning with Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, continuing to his crucifixion on Good Friday, and ending in the celebration of Jesus’ triumphant resurrection on Easter Sunday (though technically Easter Sunday is not during Holy Week, but is rather the first day of the new Easter season).

Holy Week is to religious leaders what Valentine’s Day is to florists and what the Super Bowl is for sportscasters. It’s not just holy, it’s a little bit crazy. I counted the church services posted for one of the local Episcopal churches this week at 30! That’s 3o services that some priest has to be at–hopefully not the same one. My fellow seminarians and I will likely be attending, if not serving at,

The view from my "cell" at the monastery (taken last Saturday)

several of the services this week, which typically ramp up on Thursday, with the Maundy Thursday service, beginning the three-day period called the Triduum, which includes Good Friday and the Easter Vigil on Saturday after sundown. Sound complicated? Try having to attend all of these services!

As a student, however, Holy Week isn’t the only thing on my plate this week. There are a mere 3 weeks of classes left before finals, and several projects and events that will soon come due. Moreover, I will be spending the latter part of Holy Week and Easter Sunday at my internship site, Holy Cross Monastery. In addition to the regular Holy Week observances, there is worship five times a day, starting at 7AM and ending with compline at 8:30PM.

This is why this recipe is the perfect thing for a busy week, and a great way to start off any day. Just throw ingredients in a blender and drink through a straw so you can write emails (or blog posts) while you have your breakfast. It’s a multi-tasking breakfast, if ever there was one. In addition to being convenient and tasty, it’s packed with nutrients that will power you through your day. It has a whopping 4 servings of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables! Enjoy, and have a very blessed Holy Week.

Cut the peel from the fruit rather than peeling it, then slice the orange sections into small pieces

Place the spinach, blueberries, bananas, and orange pieces into the blender. If you are using a frozen banana, put it into the blender first, so it is closest to the blade. The colder the ingredients are, the better the smoothie will taste, so frozen bananas and blueberries are the best.

Pour in the soy milk and ‘pulse’ in 1 second intervals until all the ingredients have started to mix together. Then turn your blender on ‘stir’ and blend for 20 seconds or so until all your fruit and spinach have been completely pureed and your drink is smoothie consistency. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

Holy Week growing up as a PK was as follows: Church all weeks starting with Palm Sunday ending Easter Sunday
Meals until Maunday Thursday were normal then we would have the sader supper on Thursday with Lamb Kabobs, matzos and apple butter and all the trimmings
Good Friday – Fast all day and then bitter salad for dinner
Holy Saturday – probably back to normal
and then Easter Sunday – a leg of lamb, or crown roast for dinner midday with all the family
Easter egg hunts around the church and rectory hoping to find the alleluia Egg – always painted gold and meant a big prize — we would always watch out the windows and see if we could see where dad would hide them – no such luck
And then after church they handed out little flowers in pots, begonias and such as a sign of spring and new life
Oh the memories
Enjoy the week and make sure you take those kids to church so they know what Evil Auntie Elvie endured until she was 18!

It’s true. It’s not just the priests who have a busy week–their children and partners get schlepped to a lot of those services, too. Luckily the family will join me at the monastery for Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, although they aren’t going to like that the Sunday service starts at 5AM. But, it’s followed by a huge breakfast feast, so their patience will be rewarded.